Surgical treatment and outcome of primary tracheobronchial tumors in 15 children / 中华胸心血管外科杂志

Objective:To investigate the clinical manifestation, pathological types, treatment and prognosis of primary tracheobronchial tumors in children.Methods:We retrospectively studied the primary tracheobronchial tumors patients who diagnosed from May 2009 to Jan 2021 in Guangzhou Women and Children Medical Center. The clinical manifestations, pathological types, therapeutic methods and prognosis were analyzed.Results:There were 15 patients identified as the primary tracheobronchial tumors, including synovial sarcoma (1 case), pulmonary inflammatory myofibroblastic tumor(IMT 4 cases), mucoepidermoid carcinoma(7 cases), infantile hemangioma (1 case), Ewing's sarcoma (1 case). Respiratory symptoms are the most complaint at the time of diagnosis including 15 patients with cough, 2 with hemoptysis, and 1 with dyspnea. Endoscopic treatment of tracheobronchial tumors was performed under extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) support in 1 patient. Sleeve lobectomy was performed in 3 patients, lobectomies in 6, and local tumor resections in 4 patients including 2 patients suffered second surgery due to tumor recurrence.Conclusion:The clinical manifestations of the primary tracheobronchial tumors in children are nonspecific. Complete resection led to excellent outcome.

Extramedullary plasmacytoma in the airway of an HIV-positive child.

We describe a case of an extramedullary plasmacytoma (EMP) in an HIV-positive child. An 11- year-old, HIV-infected female patient, on antiretroviral therapy since 2010, was referred with difficult to control asthma and bronchiectasis. The lesion was identified on CT chest following persisting reduced air entry and unilateral wheezing on the right. Rigid bronchoscopy identified a large pedunculated fleshy mass in the right main bronchus. Biopsy revealed it to be a plasmacytoma. Right main bronchus sleeve resection was done with complete removal of the tumor. Histology confirmed it to be a solitary plasmacytoma localized to the right main bronchus.

Primary tracheobronchial tumors in children.

Primary tracheobronchial tumors are rare lesions that can be benign or malignant, with different location along the airway tree. Symptoms may include wheezing, chronic pneumonia, asthma, chest pain, recurrent cough, atelectasis, haemoptysis, and weight loss. Due to the heterogeneity of symptoms, diagnosis can be difficult and the airway involvement can lead progressively to a bronchial or tracheal obstruction. Due to the rarity of primary tracheobronchial tumors in children, there are not any oncological guidelines on pre-operative work-up, treatment, and follow-up. Only few reports and multicentric studies are reported. In most cases, surgical resection seems to be the treatment of choice. Brachytherapy, endoscopic treatment, and chemotherapy are rarely described. In this article we present an overview on these rare tumors, including pathological aspects, clinical presentation, imaging assessment, and endoscopic or open surgical treatments. We discuss different surgical approaches, according with tumor location.

Tracheal and bronchial tumors.

Although primary tracheobronchial tumors are extremely rare in children, recurrent respiratory symptoms resistant to conventional therapy require further investigations to exclude possible malignant obstructive causes. As the matter of fact, early diagnosis may allow minimally invasive surgeries, improving the standard of living and the globally survival rate. The aim of this article is to provide an overview of diagnosis and management of tracheobronchial tumors in the early age, since only few reports are reported in the worldwide literature.